California in Brief / SACRAMENTO

20-year sentence for ecoterrorist

A federal judge Thursday sentenced a Northern California man to nearly 20 years in prison for waging a failed eco-terrorism bombing campaign that targeted a dam and a plant genetics lab.

Eric McDavid, 29, of Forest- hill, Calif., was convicted in March after his two co-conspirators pleaded guilty and assisted prosecutors in the case against him.

U.S. Atty. McGregor Scott said McDavid's sentence should serve as "a cautionary tale" to other extremists.

Prosecutors alleged that the trio hatched plans between June 2005 and January 2006 to construct homemade bombs to destroy Sacramento's Nimbus Dam and fish hatchery, electrical power facilities, cellular towers and a U.S. Forest Service science center.

Though they planned extensively and purchased materials to build explosive devices, the trio never set off or planted a bomb.

A paid government informant infiltrated the group early on, and McDavid's defense attorney argued that the mole helped hatch the bombing plot and keep it alive when the trio considered bowing out.